By India Today Sports Desk: The first edition of the new and revamped FIFA Club World Cup is set to be played in the United States of America the footballing body announced on Friday, 23 June. The quadrennial tournament is set to have its maiden competition in the USA, the members of the board unanimously decided.
FIFA had confirmed in March that the revamped Club World Cup will be played every four years from June 2025. The United States will also host the 2024 Copa America while they are also co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup along with Mexico and Canada.
"The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will be the pinnacle of elite professional men's club football," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.
"With the required infrastructure in place together with a massive local interest, the United States is the ideal host to kick off this new, global tournament."
Confederation champions from 2021-2024 will be eligible to play in the new Club World Cup. This means that Chelsea, Real Madrid and the latest Champions League winners Manchester City have are qualified from Europe. The current version of the FIFA Club World Cup, an annual competition with seven teams, will be discontinued after 2023.
FIFA said they have also agreed to postpone the launch of the bidding process for the 2030 World Cup for "additional consultation with all key stakeholders. This comes after heavy criticism of the Qatar World Cup 2022, which faced multiple controversies before, during and even after the tournament.
"The relevant bidding regulations will be presented for approval at the next FIFA Council meeting, due to take place in September/October 2023, with the bidding process to be officially launched thereafter," it said.
"The expected appointment of the host(s) by the FIFA Congress will also move from Q3 2024 to Q4 2024."
FIFA also appointed Indonesia as hosts for the Under-17 World Cup later this year, three months after the Southeast Asian country was stripped of the Under-20 World Cup, which was then held in Argentina. The decision to stop Indonesia holding the event was taken after the country's football federation cancelled the draw because the governor of the largely Hindu island of Bali refused to host Israel's team.